Flicker
by Sailor Seraphim
Summary: A look at a half-forgotten holiday helps two people open their eyes. What does it mean to be loved? 1+5+1 Shounen ai.


Flicker  
A Gundam Wing Fanfic  
By:  
Sailor Seraphim  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its related characters. If I did, the series would be  
chock-full of tasty shounen ai goodness. I do, however, own the situations which occur in  
this fic.  
  
I wrote this as an impromptu gift fic for my tomodachi Aoi-chan. She set me up for a  
challenge and I wrote the snippet for this in about five minutes. The rest took... about an  
hour. My Muses were very inspired for this one. Hope you like it, Aoi-chan!  
  
WARNINGS for 1+5+1, implications of 4x3x2, shounen ai, kissing, and *slight* angst.  
  
SPOILERS for... nothing really. Just a fluffy little fic.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
The safehouse was dark and unexpectedly empty for this hour of the night, Wufei thought  
as he slipped through the front door. He had just come back from a particularly  
heavy mission and was expecting at least a little fuss from the occupants of the safehouse.  
It was only a little after midnight, so Duo should have been bouncing off the walls for  
another hour or so. Quatre seemed to be a night owl, and Wufei couldn't remember the  
last time he had seen Trowa sleep. Heero was the only one who had "standard" sleeping  
hours -- but even those were preempted by missions or intelligence gathering or typing out  
mission reports. So, to enter a silent and empty safehouse was a rather unnerving  
experience.   
  
There was a shuffling sound from the living room and Wufei's training immediately kicked  
in. Unless the other pilots were away on missions, at least *one* of them should have been  
here. Had their secure location been compromised? Wufei's hand drifted down to his  
sidearm, pulling out the deadly pistol as he carefully peered around the corner.  
  
What he saw was definitely not what he was expecting.  
  
Every available surface in the living room seemed to be covered in candles. They all were  
burning merrily, wax dripping to puddle on the tabletops and casting an eerie glow  
around the whole room. On the dining table, surrounded by yet more candles were some  
covered dishes -- obviously a meticulously prepared dinner. Wufei's mind boggled. What  
was going on here?  
  
"Hard mission?"  
  
Wufei jumped, his pistol swinging around to point at the figure sitting on the couch. Then  
he sighed and holstered his weapon. "Dammit, Heero. You are going to get shot one of  
these days!"  
  
Heero shrugged. "It's happened before. Nothing I can't handle."  
  
With a disgruntled huff, Wufei stepped fully into the room. "That is not the point. What the  
hell is going on here? What is with all the candles? Why are you sitting here in the dark?"  
  
"Quatre and Duo set the room up. It's Valentine's Day. And I'm not sitting in the dark; the  
candles provide adequate illumination."  
  
Wufei frowned as he sat down on the opposite end of the couch, then looked with some  
surprise at the end of the blanket he happened to be sitting on. "Explain further."  
  
Heero actually seemed to sigh. "Apparently today is some strange holiday known as  
Valentine's Day. It's a day for lovers and love. Quatre and Duo took it upon themselves to  
enlighten Trowa about the significance of today. They said the candles were romantic and  
they cooked dinner as well. I ate already. There's some set aside for you, too."  
  
"A romantic holiday," Wufei repeated. Then he smirked, waving the edge of the blanket  
around. "This explains why you were sleeping down here instead of in your room."  
  
"The three of them are loud. And I have a mission in a half hour." Heero's rather blunt  
statement was as surprising as the fact that Heero had even bothered to engage Wufei in  
conversation. On any other occasion, Heero would have just informed him about his  
dinner being on the table instead of delving into the romantic liaisons of the other three  
pilots.  
  
"Wufei?"  
  
Shaking himself free of his wandering thoughts, Wufei looked up to see Heero sitting with  
a pensive look on his face. "What is it?"  
  
"Have you celebrated Valentine's Day before?"  
  
Well, that certainly wasn't a question he was expecting. Stretching his tired limbs out,  
Wufei pulled away the band that held back his hair and scratched his head. "Valentine's  
Day is, to my knowledge, mostly a Western tradition. I have heard of the holiday, yes, but  
never had a reason to celebrate it."  
  
Heero frowned. "Trowa also knew about today, but gave the same reason you did for not  
celebrating. However, he seemed at ease in doing what Quatre and Duo asked of him. I  
didn't know that there was anything special about today. I think that this is just a useless  
celebration. There is no need for soldiers to involve themselves in petty distractions in the  
middle of a war. Quatre and Duo seemed to think there was something wrong with my  
reasoning."  
  
Wufei resisted the urge to wince as Heero spoke. It was in moments like these that the  
Japanese pilot showed just how naive he was about basic human interactions. Perfect  
Soldier though he was, at the core Heero Yuy was just as fallible as any other person.  
With a pair of blue eyes staring at him in the dim light, Wufei answered Heero's unasked  
question.  
  
"The others may be soldiers, but they are people as well. People need to be reassured  
sometimes that there are others who care for them and love them. This day is about that  
reassurance. I never celebrated Valentine's Day because it was part of my culture; but that  
does not mean that I did not know what it meant to feel loved."  
  
"I don't think I've ever felt that sort of love," Heero muttered, his head dropping as he  
stared down at the floor.  
  
In that instant, watching as Heero showed off that pained and vulnerable side of himself,  
Wufei felt a flicker of empathy race through his soul. How tragic it must have been, to  
have never been shown a friendly face or a loving smile. Though the Chinese boy had  
much honor and pride, he would never say that he had never been loved in his childhood.  
And here, sitting before him, was a boy who had never been given a chance to experience  
the softer emotions in life. He had no memories of love or acceptance to fuel his drive to  
end the war. How could Heero Yuy fight like that, as nothing more than a machine or a  
tool without a soul?  
  
Then those sad Prussian eyes caught him a fierce look, something besides the candlelight  
burning in those blue depths.   
  
"Can you show me what this love is?" Heero asked. "Can you tell me what I'm feeling?"  
  
Speechless, Wufei looked up at Heero, his coal black eyes reflecting the dim flickering  
light from the half-melted candles. The Japanese boy stared at the Chinese one with rapt  
attention, as if the ebony-haired boy was the only one in the world on this lonely holiday  
evening. Moving slowly, Heero reached out, his tanned hand skimming across bronzed  
skin. Wufei shuddered softly as Heero's fingers pushed back loose inky strands away from  
his face. Coal black eyes sliding shut under the silent assault, Heero leaned forward and  
pressed his lips against Wufei's... tasting him as if he was the first course in a long feast.   
  
Finally, the two boys broke off, panting softly and staring deep into each others eyes. With  
an embarrassed flush tinting his bronzed cheeks and not saying anything, Wufei untangled  
his fingers from where they had tangled into Heero's thick brown hair. The Japanese boy  
also opted not to speak as he carefully moved his hands from where they had encircled the  
Chinese boy's waist and back up to the relative safety of the armrest. But the two Gundam  
pilots were painfully aware of their proximity to each other, unsure of whys and  
wherefores of their unanticipated joining.   
  
With the tension in the room mounting, Heero stood up abruptly and quickly crossed the  
room, obviously intending to leave. Wufei sagged back against the couch cushions with a  
vague feeling of disappointment, only snapping back to attention when Heero spun on his  
heel and returned to the couch. Slowly, Heero leaned forward, his Prussian blue eyes  
catching the last of the flickering candlelight.  
  
"I'm going on my mission now," he said softly. Wufei's eyebrows furrowed as he pondered  
why exactly the other pilot would announce his departure. But before he could ask, Heero  
pressed a brief kiss against Wufei's cheek. "Happy Valentine's Day, Wufei."  
  
Without another word, Heero strode out of the room, the slamming of the front door and  
then the roar of Wing's engines marking his passage. Blinking his coal black eyes in the  
dimming light, Wufei let a small smile lift his lips. He placed one hand against his cheek  
and then settled back against the couch cushions, pulling the blanket up around him. With  
the faint scent of Heero surrounding him and his lips still tingling from the other boy's kiss,  
Wufei let his eyes fall shut.  
  
"Happy Valentine's Day to you, too, Heero."  
  
And then he went to sleep.  
  
  
  
  
  
-- Owari -- 


End file.
